Guides · Compliance
CE marking, and everything it does not cover
CE is the most commonly quoted and least commonly understood document in this trade. It is a self-declaration against European directives, made by the party placing the product on the market. It is not a certificate issued to you by a laboratory, and it is not permission to import into Nigeria, Kenya, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the UAE or Iraq. Those are six separate schemes, and in two of them the inspection happens before the goods leave China.
What CE actually is
CE marking is a declaration by the manufacturer — or by the importer who places the product on the European market — that the product meets the applicable European directives. For hand-held power tools that normally means the Low Voltage Directive, the EMC Directive and the RoHS Directive, and for some categories the Machinery Directive.
It rests on two documents:
- The EU Declaration of Conformity — a signed statement naming the directives, the standards applied, the manufacturer and the responsible person. It is issued by the manufacturer, not by a test house.
- The technical file — test reports, risk assessment, circuit and construction documentation, and the internal production control records. It is not submitted to anyone by default; it is kept and produced on request.
The "CE certificate" you are often sent is usually a test report. A report from a laboratory is evidence that supports a declaration. It is not itself the declaration, and it does not by itself make a product CE marked. If a supplier cannot produce a declaration naming the directives and the responsible person, they have not finished the job.
What CE does not do
This is the part that costs importers money. A CE-marked tool arriving at Lagos, Mombasa or Umm Qasr is a tool with a European conformity declaration. It is not a tool that has satisfied the destination country's own scheme, and no customs authority in the region accepts CE in place of it.
The schemes that actually apply
| Market | Scheme | Who acts, and when |
|---|---|---|
| Nigeria | SONCAP | The importer or their clearing agent applies, in Nigeria. It can run in parallel with production rather than blocking it. |
| Kenya | PVoC, through a KEBS-appointed agency | Inspection takes place in the country of export before shipment. This one is on the supplier's side, and it has to be booked into the production schedule. |
| Egypt | GOEIC factory registration | A factory-side registration. It determines which factory can supply the order at all, so it has to be settled before the quotation, not after. |
| Saudi Arabia | SABER | Two steps: a product-level certificate, then a shipment certificate per consignment. |
| United Arab Emirates | ECAS, under ESMA | Product registration and marking, completed before the goods can clear. |
| Iraq | COC from an appointed inspection agency | Inspection at origin, before loading. |
Two consequences follow, and they are the practical point of this guide.
The cost belongs in the quotation. A conformity scheme discovered after production is a contingency, and contingencies on a container are expensive. Asked at the enquiry stage, it is a line item with a lead time attached.
Two of the six are origin-side inspections. For Kenya and Iraq the goods have to be inspected in China before they are loaded. A shipment that is ready before the inspection is scheduled is not ready. Production schedules have to leave room for it, and that is a conversation to have before the deposit, not after.
The questions to ask a supplier before you commit
- Can you give me the EU Declaration of Conformity, naming the directives and the responsible person?
- Which test reports support it, and from which laboratory?
- Which conformity scheme does my destination country require, and who applies for it?
- If inspection is at origin, how many days does it add to the schedule?
- What does it cost, and is it in the quotation or separate?
- If I need a test report my market specifically names, can you obtain it, and how long does it take?
Our position on certification
CE is available as standard on the power tools we supply, and we will send the declaration and the supporting reports on request.
We do not pre-pay for certificates nobody has asked for, and we will not pretend that a certificate we have not obtained exists. If your market requires a specific scheme, a specific test report or a factory registration, tell us at the enquiry stage: we will confirm in writing what we can provide, what it costs, how long it takes, and where the responsibility sits. Where the scheme is the importer's obligation — as SONCAP is in Nigeria — we will say so, and supply the technical file you need to complete it.
What we will not do. We will not describe a product as certified when it is not, and we will not put a customer's brand on another company's trademark. Both are the kind of shortcut that ends with a container stopped at the port, and the loss is always larger than the order.
Related pages
The country pages carry the scheme, the mains specification and the ports for each market: Nigeria, Kenya, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Iraq. The end-to-end process is in Importing power tools from China.
Tell us your market and we will tell you what it requires
Send the destination country and the product list. We will confirm which conformity scheme applies, who applies for it, and what it adds to the cost and the schedule — in writing, before you commit.